"a straw-man argument that an e-bike is a motorbike, because it is a bike with a motor."

That's not really a straw-man... (Technically e-bikes are mopeds.)

Running on electricity and not petrol makes zero difference. There are electric motorcycles and mopeds, and there are petrol-assist systems for bicycles. The type of motor doesn't make it "not" a motorized vehicle.

The no throttle depends on the e-bike. Many do have throttles, (and you can already by kits to add them to non-throttle setups.)

Even the main companies, (Specialized etc) have bikes giving you a lot more than 200watts max output on a climb. Specialized Turbo Levos give you up to 530 watts, and if you go buy a Luna Cycle setup? You can get 2500 watts. (That's over 3 horsepower if you are counting, not including what you put out which if you are a strong rider is about 1000w on a climb for a short burst.)

The reality is that you base a lot of your points on inaccurate information.

Hey Kyle, I completely agree with your implied criticism and concerns about people who might use a throttle controlled electric bike with > 250 watts on our MTB trails. That would be a genuine problem. But that isn't what this article is about. This is about the range of conventional ped-elec bikes that conform with the European standard and to the new Australian legal standard for a pedelec bike, which is completely seperate from the moped examples you've given below. To quote wikipedia for a sec:

Since 30 May 2012, Australia has an additional new e-bike category using the European Union model of a pedelec as per the CE EN15194 standard. This means the e-bike can have a motor of 250W of continuous rated power which can only be activated by pedalling (if above 6 km/h) and must cut out over 25 km/h – if so it is classed as a normal bicycle. The state of Victoria is the first to amend their local road rules...

These are the eBike mountain bikes that bike stores are selling, and this is what the article refers to. And I'd agree with the writers opinion - these bikes don't represent a serious threat to our recreation. They're no more annoying than being a novice getting passed all afternoon by experienced riders - or being an experienced rider having to go around a novice. It is just another type of bicycle rider on our trails.

Having someone go out and ride a 2500 watt moped on a MTB trail is bad. Having someone ride one of these pedelec bikes... Not so much.

You also mentioned the Specialized Turbo Levo - which is one of the pedelec ranges that do fit within this European standard, but you've misread their spec sheet. Their BATTERY capacity is 504 Watt Hours (Wh), but this refers to how much charge the battery can store. Take another look at their spec sheet and you'll see that the max motor output is 250 Watts.